yuyuhakushofandomcom-20200223-history
Raizen
Raizen (雷禅, Raizen) was part of a special type of elite and powerful demon called a Mazoku (loosely meaning the "Tribe of Devils", translated as Demonkin in FUNimation's subtitles of the original Japanese anime.). He was also one of The Three Kings of Makai and Yusuke Urameshi's ancestral father. In the anime, prior to Yusuke's departure to Demon World, Raizen is called Toshin by Hokushin. As this can be translated to mean Battle God, it is likely a nickname rather than a surname. He is also called the Master of War or Warrior God depending on the translation. Appearance Despite being thousands of years old, Raizen's body remains young and strong, consisting of a lean yet muscular appearance. As the centuries progressed, however, Raizen became more and more emaciated as he starved himself because of his experience in Ningenkai. His clothes include a yellow headband, a yellow obi sash, and white pants. Accompanied by long, white hair, his facial features consist of a long, thin nose, canine teeth, a tattoo below his left eye, and a pained, craving smile. During the flashbacks, he was wearing a blue sleeveless loose yukata. Personality Though he once fed on humans for sustenance, Raizen, after falling in love with a human woman, vows never to eat humans again. True to his promise, Raizen's body begins to slowly eat itself to death, eventually causing the growl of his stomach to be heard throughout Demon World, according to Hokushin. Despite his brutal reputation as a warrior and a savage beast who feeds on humans, Raizen has a very loving and caring side to his personality and though he may not seem like it, he is a man of his word and honor, keeping his promises even when someone he has made a promise to is no longer there to hold him to it. He has chosen to keep his promise of never again eating a human to the only woman he has ever loved over eating, staying strong, and thereby remaining in greater power and control of the Demon World forever. Yusuke did not realize how proud he was of his forefather until he heard the words of Raizen's comrades saying how honorable he was. Even in death, Raizen is always there to give the best advice that he can give Yusuke and guide his descendant to the right direction. It is hinted that Yusuke sees Raizen as the closest father-figure he never had, considering the fact his biological father was never there for him for most of his childhood. Yusuke even called him "dad". History Back when demons and humans lived together, Raizen was the most-powerful of the Demon Kings, but was chased into hiding by a league of demons. Enki claimed that, at his peak, Raizen was the most powerful demon who had ever existed, saying that even Yomi and Mukuro would have been helpless against him. He was injured badly, and was nursed back to health by a beautiful young woman. Initially, he couldn't suppress his urge to eat her, and she told him he was welcome to, but at the risk of her tainted flesh and blood eating his own insides. They instead had a child and Raizen had to leave her and swore that he wouldn't eat another human until he met her again. She eventually died and Raizen kept his word of never eating another human. Synopsis Chapter Black Saga In the middle of the final battle between Yusuke and former spirit detective Shinobu Sensui, Raizen takes control of Yusuke's body, causing his descendant to develop demon-like features greatly resembling those of Raizen. After taking over Yusuke's body completely, Raizen begins to do battle against Sensui, and with superior strength, Raizen easily and ruthlessly defeats Sensui. Just as Raizen fires a deadly shot of Yusuke's newly acquired demon gun at Sensui, Yusuke begins to regain control over his body, urging Sensui to move out of the way of the incoming bullet. Nonetheless, Yusuke's gesture proves futile, as the shot hits and kills Sensui.Yu Yu Hakusho manga; Chapter 151 After the slaying of Sensui, Yusuke, never knowing himself to be so ruthless, realizes that someone must have taken control of his body during the battle, though he remains unaware of who it could have been. With such questions still in mind, Yusuke travels back to human realm, revoked of his former status as spirit detective. Three Kings Saga Anxious to meet with his heir to the throne, Raizen sends two A-class demons and one S-class demon to find him. Yusuke refuses and ends up fighting them. Later, however, Yusuke goes with them, along with Kurama and Hiei with Raizen's rivals Yomi and Mukuro. Yusuke engages with Raizen only to find out Raizen's strength is far greater than his. Yusuke trains rigorously with Hokushin until they deem he is worthy of fighting Raizen. Raizen however is dying from starvation from not eating humans. When Yusuke finally goes to see Raizen, he loses control of his hunger, nearly killing Yusuke in the process. He then tells Yusuke the reason for his starvation and dies several moments later. In order to stop the war, Yusuke starts the Demon World Tournament. Before the start of the tournament, Yusuke meets two of Raizen's allies, Enki and his wife, Koko as the latter mourns of their leader's death as Enki mentions Raizen as a most powerful warrior to Yusuke. After the tournament and Enki emerges as the victor to become the leader of the Demon World. Yusuke visits Raizen's grave and his own decision of going back to the Human World to see Keiko one final time as Raizen's spirit emerges from his grave as he gives Yusuke some advice and his own responsibility before the latter departs. Techniques/Moves Although Raizen's fights during the series have never shown his true power, it is admitted by many characters that Raizen is the most powerful fighter in the series. After abstaining from eating humans for hundreds of years, and losing more of his power as a result, his strength was still great enough so that he could rival Yomi and Mukuro, thus keeping the war at a three way stalemate. It has been said that, in his prime, Raizen was strong enough to shake the earth while powering up. * Superior S Class Demon Energy: 'Being an Upper S-Class Mazoku, Raizen is immeasurably powerful and an equally experienced warrior. His power in his prime is far exceeding that of the other Upper S class demons in power and overall strength. Even in his weakened state he is on par with Yomi and Mukuro. *'Incredible strength: During the fight with Sensui, when Raizen is possessing Yusuke, his attacks are so strong that possible friction statics or tendrils of lightning are generated when he attacks as seen when Yusuke was using the spirit punch and spirit gun during the fight. As this never happened to Yusuke's ability before or since, it suggest that this is an ability or power of Raizen (or possibly as a pun on his name). *'Lightning Empowerment': When Raizen was possesing Yusuke, lightning bolts are seen striking Yusuke's Spirit Gun, and Spirit Punch. This has never happened before or since, suggesting this is a ability/skill of Raizens, not Yusuke's. It may also be a reference to his name (Raizen: Rai =Lightning / Zen=Meditation) *'Energy Cutter': During his first meeting with Yusuke, Raizen demonstrated the ability to create a blade like beam of energy by flicking his fingers. This can also be interpreted that he's so strong, he can cut someone with his nails even when they are at a distance. This attack, which Raizen admitted was casual, was enough to cut a gash into Yusuke's chest. Vlcsnap-2011-04-26-19h26m04s66.jpg|Raizen in flight. Vlcsnap-2011-04-26-19h26m10s124.jpg|Closeup of attack. *'Fury Palm Rush:' In his frenzied feral state, Raizen grasps Yusuke's face in his left palm and forcibly drives him into and through the wall of his fortress. He continues to push Yusuke back with a massive burst of his green energy, propelling him across the landscape of his terrain and into a large rock formation, all the while crushing Yusuke's head in his grip. As shown in this move, it is proven that Raizen is able to fly, as he was able to push Yusuke from his throne room tower and force him a great distance away. *'Flight': As seen when he used Fury Palm Rush (unofficial name), he was covered in green energy when he was dragging him mid-air. This can be interpreted that his power is immensely powerful that his jump reached this distance before falling. This can also be interpreted that he's capable of flight. Yusuke and Sensui showed the ability to fly in their fight when they were covered in spiritual energy. *'Energy Blast:' Seen in a flashback of Souketsu's memory, Raizen, during his prime, used a blast of white demonic energy, blasting Souketsu backward onto a wall. *'Possession:' Seen when he takes control of Yusuke's body, Raizen has the power to possess and control his descendants and channel his power through them. *'''Incredible Speed: '''Shown in his frenzied state while fighting Yusuke. Trivia *He has several traits similar to his descendant, Yusuke Urameshi. Both had reckless and battle loving personalities, both had a lover who would stand up to them, both had friends who mourned their deaths, and both had a group of close fighting friends who badly wanted to surpass them. *Although it is stated clearly that Yusuke is his direct descendant it has never been specified exactly which side of Yusuke's family does Raizen come from. *He dies similar to Younger Toguro; both pushed their bodies to their physical limits. Raizen refused to eat humans, while Toguro forced himself to go beyond 100% of his power. When they both died, their bodies turned completely white. *His name translates to "Lightning Buddhism", a likely reference to how he can endure for centuries without eating impurities, having a whole army of monks and being as strong and as swift as lightning. (Correction, literal translation would be thunder and not lightning,) *Although he was, at his time of dying, equal to both Yomi and Mukuro in power, if he had eaten humans to the current events he would have dominated over Yomi and Mukuro. Shigure states that Mukuro was only using a little bit more than half of her power in the tournament, which would most likely mean her power at only slighly over half of her maximum potential is equal to Raizen's friends. Therefore, it is extremely likely that Raizen in his prime years is the strongest character in the series since it was confirmed he is more than twice as powerful than the combined might of Yomi, Mukuro, and his old friends. *He shares English voice actor Christopher Sabat with Kuwabara and Gama on the show. Sabat is Hailed for portarying voice's of the likes of Vegeta, Piccolo, Yamcha and many more from the Dragon Ball series. *In Chapter 161 of the manga, Raizen is stated to have a Youki of 1,322,000 in his weakened state. *Raizen's surname/title of Toushin (闘神), meaning "war god", is exclusive to the anime and is supposed to be a nickname representing his unmatched prowess in combat. *Raizen is similar to King Piccolo from Dragon Ball both are portrayed as demon/devil both had a descendent which became a hero, both were old, and were by far the powerful in their youth of their respective series, Raizen moreso before being famished. *It was shown that Raizen is capable of flying when he attacked Yusuke in his frenzied state. *It is implied that Raizen in his prime years has a Youki(power level)i of over 20,000,000, since it was officially stated that he was much more powerful than the combined might of Mukuro, Yomi, and his former friends in their prime years. *His face bears some similarities with Kite, a character from Togashi's newest work, Hunter x Hunter. *Raizen's relationship with the human girl he fell in love with and his decision to stop eating humans for good both reference the possibilities for Meruem's character from Togashi's other work, Hunter X Hunter. *In the English Dub, his final converstaion with Yusuke is changed, Instead of asking if Yusukue would eat humans, he instead asks if he had ever been in love. When Yusukue responds "yes", Raizen explains that he can understand his choice to starve himself. *Raizen is a pure demon blood Mazoku while his lineal descendant Yusuke is a half-human, half-demon hybrid Mazoku born from a human mother. The Mazukos are a very rare race of highly elevated demons considered the strongest even among Upper S-Classes. There were only two Mazokus ever introduced in the entire Yu Yu Hakusho series, Raizen and Yusuke, both in the manga and in the anime versions. References Navigation Category:Characters Category:Demons Category:Male Characters Category:Three Kings Category:Deceased Characters Category:Upper S-Class Demons Category:Masters Category:Super Centenarian Category:Political Leaders Category:Mazoku